Fujifilm Finepix F31fd Review

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using
the 6M Fine mode, which gives an average image size of around
3Mb.

Noise

There are 6 ISO settings available on the Fujifilm Finepix
F31fd which you can select at any time if the camera is in
the normal shooting mode. There is virtually no discernible
noise at the slowest settings of ISO 100 and 200, and ISO
400 also looks very clean. Noise is starting to appear at
ISO 800, bit it is still well controlled at ISO 1600. As you
might expect, quite a lot of detail is lost at the fastest
speed of ISO 3200, with the images having a "painted"
feel, but they are still perfectly useable for small print
sizes. A truly amazing performance by the Fujifilm Finepix
F31fd. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels
for each ISO setting.

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality
50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening
applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little
soft and benefit from some further sharpening in a program
like Adobe Photoshop. Unfortunately you cannot change the
in-camera sharpening levels, so you will always have to do
some post-processing if you don't like the default results.

Original
(100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

File Quality

The Fujifilm Finepix F31fd has 2 different file quality settings
available, with Fine being the highest quality option. Here
are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various
options, with the file size shown in brackets.

6M
Fine (2.98Mb) (100% Crop)

6M
Normal (1.46Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Fujifilm Finepix F31fd handled chromatic aberrations
quite well, with some purple fringing evident in areas of
high contrast, as shown in the examples below.

Chromatic
Aberrations (100% Crop)

Chromatic
Aberrations (100% Crop)

Macro

The Fujifilm Finepix F31fd offers a Macro setting that allows
you to focus on a subject that is 5cms away from the camera.
The first image shows how close you can get to the subject
in Macro mode (in this case a compact flash card). The second
image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot

Macro Shot (100% Crop)

Flash

The flash settings on the Fujifilm Finepix F31fd are Auto,
Red-eye Reduction, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro.
and Red-eye Reduction + Slow Synchro. These shots of a magnolia
coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (36mm)

Auto Flash - Wide Angle (36mm)

Flash Off - Telephoto (108mm)

Auto Flash - Telephoto (108mm)

And here are some self-portraits. As you can see, neither
the Flash On setting and the Red-Eye Reduction option caused
any red-eye.

Flash On

Flash On (100% Crop)

Flash - Red-Eye Reduction

Flash - Red-Eye Reduction (100%
Crop)

Night Shot

The Fujifilm Finepix F31fd maximum shutter speed is 15 seconds,
which is good news if you're seriously interested in night
photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed
of 10 seconds, aperture of f/5 at ISO 100. I've included a
100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.

Night Shot

Night Shot (100% Crop)

Overall Image Quality

The Fujifilm Finepix F31fd produced images of excellent quality
during the review period. The 6 megapixel images are a little
soft straight out of the camera and ideally require some further
sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop. Unfortunately
there are no in-camera sharpening options. The Fujifilm Finepix
F31fd handled chromatic aberrations quite well, with purple
fringing effects appearing in very high contrast situations.
Macro performance is above average, allowing you to focus
as close as 5 cms away from the subject. The built-in flash
worked well indoors with no red-eye and good overall exposure.
The night photograph was very good too, with the maximum shutter
speed of 15 seconds offering lots of scope for creative night
photography. The Fujifilm Finepix F31fd's most impressive
feature in terms of image quality is the extensive and very
usable ISO range of 100-3200. I have never reviewed a compact
digital camera before that has been able to match the F31fd's
ISO performance (exlcuding its predecessor, the F30). ISO
100-800 is virtually noise-free, whilst ISO 1600 and even
3200 produce acceptable results. This makes the F31fd a great
camera for low-light photography without having to resort
to using the flash, which in turn can produce more natural
results.

PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the Fujifilm Finepix F31fd
have been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.

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